The Weir

by Conor McPherson

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Longing for the Past

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When Jim, Jack, Finbar, and Brendan talk about the past, there's a strong sense of reminiscing for it. It's not that their present isn't good—it's just that the past is colored gold by their recollections of it. They start telling stories to impress Valerie, a woman who just moved to the area. But Jim, Jack, and Finbar's connection to each other shows how deep their desire to have the same feelings they had as children goes. Things are never the same once you're grown; you have a whole host of experiences and tragedies that color your perspective. Jack, for example, was too scared to leave with the girl he loved for Dublin and now has to live without her. He longs for the past he had with her even though it's long gone and not something that can be obtained again.

Loss

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Each of the characters in the play has experienced significant loss. Finbar points out that his friends are bitter because only he escaped from the area where they grew up; he went to find success and they stayed there "picking their holes" in the bog. The sense of missed opportunities is strong throughout the play. The story of the other three men is in opposition to that of Brendan, who still has a chance to make a different life. He has to choose whether to sell The Weir or whether to continue to live there alone. He could lose the place that's been his touchstone but, at the same time, he's already experienced the loss of the people in his life who have left him there, isolated. Sometimes making a choice means there will be loss no matter what the choice is. Having one thing means losing another.

Supernatural

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The supernatural elements in the story signify something that is haunting the characters. This is most clear in both Valerie's explanation of what happened to her daughter and what Jack says at the end of the play. Even though there is no ghost in his story, he's still haunted by what happens. The supernatural is really what people decide it is, after all. Things that make you feel fear or loss or hopeless. It doesn't have to be Ouija boards, like in Finbar's story. Things that haunt you can be choices you've made or things that happened to the people you love.

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